“He pushed her away, but I didn’t see it because I ran.”
Now it’s not only her lips that are twitching. One eye joins in.
“He couldn’t even remember her name.”
“Oh. My. God.” Lola sets her mug down on the coffee table, but her attention never wavers from my face. “Oh my god, Indigo.”
“I know, okay? Trust me, I know.”
“Babe.” She reaches over and squeezes my hand. “All these years.”
“I know.”
“Okay, so, then what happened?”
My face flames hot, so I take a sip of coffee in an effort to hide it. Of course, it doesn’t work.
Lola’s eyes spark and she leans forward. “Indigo Bloom. Then. What. Happened?”
“We kissed,” I say behind the coffee cup before finishing my thought in a rush of jumbled words. “And I kinda got myself off on his lap and made him come in his pants.”
Lola’s jaw unhinges, and she blinks slowly at me. It would be hilarious if I wasn’t so mortified. “You made him come in his pants.”
I nod. “Yep.”
“Penises are weird.”
“Lola!”
“What? They are. But whatever. Was it good?”
“I mean, obviously. I wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t.” I fan my face, trying to cool it down. “But kissing him… I always wondered what it would be like to kiss him, and I was not disappointed.”
My best friend grins. “Good. How much would it suck if you finally kissed after all these years and it was awful?”
“Luckily, I don’t have to consider that.”
“So he’s getting us tickets for all the home games for the rest of the season?” Lola bounces in her seat like an excited child. “And we get cool jackets?”
I chuckle, because I’m not surprised she’s excited about that. Lola is way more fashionable than me. She’s petite and almost anything fits her. Shopping isn’t a struggle for her the way it is for me. I’m already worried that they won’t be able to get me a jacket that matches because it won’t come in an eighteen.
“That’s what he said.”
“Best morning ever.” She wiggles in her seat, and that’s the only warning I get before she launches herself at me and tackles me in an overly aggressive hug. “I’m so happy for you.”
“I’m pretty happy too. Just don’t get ahead of yourself, okay? There’s no guarantee this will work.” In fact, the odds are decidedly not in my favor. But I don’t want to think about that right now.
“Is that how one of your romance heroines would think?” Lola lets me go, leveling me with a look that would make a lesser woman wither. I’m immune at this point.
I shrug. “Probably.” I do put a lot of myself into each of them. Not in a weird, self-insert way, but it’s my lived experiences that color how I see the world, and the way my characters see theworld is filtered through my understanding of it. Some of my heroines are much more confident than me, of course. But none of them are devoid of insecurities.
Perfect heroines are boring.
“Well then, I’ll be optimistic for the both of us, because this is your time, Indie. That man looks at you like he’s finally found the buried treasure he’s spent a decade searching for. And you look at him the same way.” She lowers her chin and stares into my soul. It’s menacingly loving. “Don’t sabotage yourself.”
“I won’t.” I hope. “Now we need to find someone for you.”
Lola purses her lips and shakes her head from side to side. “I’ve thought about hitting a few gay bars. Or maybe I’ll give apps another try.”
